Since 1974 I studied Geology with special interest in paleontology at the Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany, where I obtained my MSc for a research in the ordovician stratigraphy of central Spain and in 1988 my PhD for a thesis on the fauna and flora of the carboniferous outcrops in the Northern Westphaly.
From 1975-1990 I was research assistant and later lecturer at the Institute of Geology in Münster and since 1987 volunteer at the Westphalian Museum of Natural History, 1991-1992 chief clerk in an engeneering bureau.
Since 1995 I have been headcurator for the paleobotanical collections of the Naturkundemuseum Berlin.
My special interests are research on early landplants from the Silurian/Devonian and on the floras of the upper Carboniferous (Namurian-Westfalian).
